Brilliant Skarpnord leads NZ Open

BY Liz White | ALPG Tour | 2010 New Zealand Women's Open | Round One | 25 Feb 2010

Norwegian Marianne Skarpnord has fired off a course record 7 under 65 to be the leader by two after the first round of the Pegasus New Zealand Open being played in Christchurch.

And in a day for records, the 24-year-old also equalled the Ladies European Tour best front nine _ a seven under 29, courtesy of an eagle and five birdies.

Not that breaking records caught Skarpnord’s attention.

“I am just trying to get the ball in the hole, I am not that type of girl that is thinking about records, I am just out there having fun and playing,” she said.

Skarpnord has come into the tournament, played on the new Pegasus Golf and Sports Club course, in top form.

Last year she was a dual winner on the Ladies European Tour, finished fourth on the LET Henderson Money List and in December, gained her tour card for the USLPGA.

It was a very impressive opening round, just the one bogey on the 365m par four 12th, blotting her copy book.

Skarpnord leads Diana D’Alessio by two after the American carded a five under 67, courtesy, she says, of some great work with the flat stick.

“My putting was awesome today,” she said.

“I felt pretty comfortable on the greens although the hardest putt for me is the downhiller, you think it is going to be pretty fast and I can’t get it there.”

The afternoon groups got the better of the conditions today, a fact not lost on D’Alessio.

“We got to play some holes downwind and then it changed and then we got to play some more downwind, so it wasn’t too bad,” she said.

“Particularly 18 and 9, they were great.”

A shot further back is South African Ashleigh Simon and West Australian Kristie Smith. The pair shot 4 under 68, but it was Smith’s round played in the more trying morning conditions, that caught the eye.

“It was a good start to the tournament,” she said.

“I probably left a few out there coming in. I hit my irons really close to 16 and 17 and missed a couple of ten footers there.”

Still, Smith’s confidence remains high after winning in Royal Canberra and posting a top twenty finish at the NSW Open two weeks ago.

Today, on the 435m par 5 9th, she bombed her drive so long, a nine iron was all that was required for the shot into the green.

“It makes the hole a lot easier when you hit a nine iron in,” she laughed.

Smith sunk the 15 footer to turn in 3 under 33.

A sole bogey on the tenth ruined Smith’s back nine but overall she was content with her start on the demanding Pegasus course layout.

“I really like it. You can tell out there with it being really firm and what not, but it looks like it is going to turn into a pretty spectacular golf course,” she said.

Sydney’s Sarah Kemp and Britain’s Laura Davies are among a group of players sharing fifth position on three under.

The big hitting Brit was pleased with her round of one eagle, three birdies and two bogeys.

“Very solid really. The only bogeys I had were three putts, one from just off the green and one from on the green,” she said.

But Davies wasn’t happy to see the early morning swirling winds soften as the afternoon groups headed out.

“I am very disappointed to see it is dying down a bit and that is a bit unfair because then they will probably go out tomorrow morning and it is calm again, so we could really get the wrong side of the draw.”

Davies’ concern was justified with just four of the morning players shooting two under or better out of the top 9.

The wind, which whips off nearby Pegasus Bay will be the determining factor at this co-sanctioned LET-ALPG event.

“The other day we hit driver pitching wedge on ten, and yesterday we hit driver four iron, so it can be a lot of different courses on the one course,” said Skarpnord.

Davies agreed.

“It is a really good layout, testing, if you are playing well you can score well, if you are playing badly, it can you to pieces.”

With so many water hazards and variable winds plenty of the girls struggled to complete their rounds in even time today.

The afternoon groups were often on the clock with some of the players, including the leader Skarpnord, taking over five and half hours to finish.

But Skarpnord wasn’t too worried about that or her record-breaking day.

“I am going to forget what happened today and start all over again tomorrow,” she said.